Teen Titans - Beware the Grey Ghost
by SeerKing
Summary: After the events in Tokyo, the Titans have a pretty ordinary life...until events in Gotham City spread to Jump City, heralding the return of the mysterious Grey Ghost. What will happen?
1. Chapter 1

"Robin!" - Regular Speech

' _Starfire…_ ' - Thoughts

" _Report!_ " - Radio talk

 **Chapter 1: Phantom of a Ghost**

 _Early Morning_

 _Titan's Tower, Jump City_

The peace and quiet of the tower's Command Centre/Kitchen/Lounge was shattered by the shriek of an alarm, one that was quickly piped into every room in the tower to summon its residents.

First to arrive on the scene was Robin, the Bow Wonder. His short cape flapped in his wake as he entered at a run. He briskly headed to the nearest computer terminal to discover the source of the alert.

Swift on his heels was the alien princess, Starfire of the planet Tamaran. The exotic beauty, in her usual purple outfit, flew in and hovered next to her leader as she awaited his findings.

"Friend Robin, what is the cause for the alarm?" she asked, her emerald-green eyes peering over his shoulder as she spoke.

"A bombing…a big one." Robin replied as his fingers danced across the keyboard, "A plastics manufacturing plant."

"Dude, we're up already!" Beast Boy grumbled as he tottered into the command centre. The green shape shifter wore his uniform from when he was a member of the Doom Patrol and still looked sleepy. "Can you cut the alarm already? I'm getting a headache!"

"Once everyone gets here, yes." Robin replied uncompromisingly.

"Yo! Rob, Star, what's the emergency?" Cyborg asked as he came in, his mostly-metal body surprisingly silent as he walked.

"Maybe if we give Robin a chance to finish gathering the data, he could tell us." Raven said as she appeared from her soul-self, a large black bird. The half-demon-half-human was dressed in her usual black leotard, blue hooded cloak and blue boots.

This silenced the rest of the Titans quickly. Raven, although acerbic and blunt, rarely scolded them seriously, so they tended to listen to her when she did. Plus, she had probably had her meditation interrupted by the alarm, so she was very likely grumpier than usual.

"As I just told Star, a plastics manufacturing plant was just blown up, on the outskirts of the city, not ten minutes ago." Robin said grimly, "It was a subsidiary of GothCorp, one of the biggest companies in Gotham City. This message was delivered to the Mayor of Jump City shortly afterwards."

With a press of a button, the main screen was on and displaying the message.

" **Pay $5,000,000 in Cash**

 **OR the Jump City Bank is next.**

 **Signed,**

 **The Mad Bomber."**

"Five million dollars!?" Beast Boy yelped, "Is this guy nuts?!"

"He's gotta be." Cyborg agreed, "No way can Jump City raise that kinda cash, not without time."

"I am confused." Starfire confessed, "I was under the impression that the governments of this planet disallow the payment of money to the mailers who wear black?"

"Blackmailers." Raven corrected her, "Generally true, but this demand is odd in several ways. Usually, the notice is sent _before_ they blow something up. Also, though I hate to admit it, Beast Boy is right, the amount is absurdly large."

"Which means there's more to it than some whackjob trying to strong-arm cash out of a city." Robin added, "Whoever is behind this is making a point…and I know who he is."

More tapping of keys replaced the message with a thin, geeky looking man with blond hair and glasses.

"His name is Ted Dymer." the Boy Wonder stated grimly, "Also known as the Mad Bomber. He waged a terror campaign in Gotham City before Batman caught him."

"He does not appear to be physically imposing." Starfire remarked, "Why then did the Batman not catch him immediately?"

"He was never at the scene of the crime, Star." Robin replied, "He used remote-controlled cars packed with explosives. He was -and presumably still is- obsessed with toys, and he took the idea from an episode of an old TV show called 'The Grey Ghost'. Batman tracked down the man who had played the lead role of the grey Ghost himself, Simon Trent, and enlisted his help in deducing Dymer's identity and catching him."

"Remote-controlled cars, eh?" Cyborg grinned, "If he's just using commercial transmitters and receivers, I can use my built-in equipment to trace the source of any large origin points, easily."

"But...if he was caught, should this 'Mad Bomber' not be in jail still?" Starfire questioned.

"Unfortunately, no." Robin replied, changing the screen to display an article from a Gotham newspaper, "Arkham Asylum had a mass breakout two months ago, and the Mad Bomber was one of those who escaped. A week later, Simon Trent was killed in a car bomb incident."

"He took revenge on the man who helped put him away." Raven said with narrowed eyes.

"More than that." the leader of the Titans said, "A couple of days after Trent was killed, his teenaged grandniece vanished from Trent's home, where she had been living with him."

"Kidnapping?" Cyborg asked.

"The GCPD assume so." Robin replied, "It is odd though…the report states that there was no sign of forced entry before the police managed to get in. Kidnapping is only in the cards because the neighbours reported the sounds of an argument and a scuffle."

"Murder, kidnapping, arson…" Beast Boy said with a shake of his head, "This dude is one bad apple."

"Agreed." Starfire nodded determinedly, "We must capture this 'Mad Bomber' before more innocent lives suffer at his hands."

"Right." Robin said with a sharp nod, "Cyborg, get the T-Car ready for dealing with exploding cars. Starfire, Raven, you'll be on aerial patrol around the building. Beast Boy, you'll be the ground response unit. I'll be coordinating and acting as a mobile reserve if needed. Dymer usually strikes at dusk, midnight or dawn. Get ready for a long night, Titans."

 **TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

 _Sundown_

 _Jump City Merchant Bank_

Beast Boy yawned loudly. "Dude, I'm beat!"

"We all are, Beast Boy." Robin said as he scanned the surrounding, not looking slightly tired, "Suck it up."

The day had been long and tiring for the entire team. A plethora of Jump City's villains had been acting up all day…Doctor Light, Mumbo the Magnificent Magician, The Hive Five, Killer Moth and Kitten, Mad Mod and even Private Hive had shown up.

Doctor Light, still terrified of Raven, had been easily dealt with. Mumbo, as long as you dodged his spells, was just annoying. The Hive Five, without Jinx to be the brains were all power and no brainpower, Gizmo aside. Mod, Private Hive and Killer Moth had taken time, but had also been dealt with.

The less said about Kitten, the better, in Starfire's opinion.

" _Cyborg here._ " he chirped over the communicators abruptly, " _There's been a sudden spike in usage of the radio-frequencies that are used for radio-controlled toys. Looks like it's playtime._ "

"Roger that." Robin answered tensely, "Star? Raven? Any unusual sightings from up there?"

" _Nothing sighted to the north or the east._ " Raven replied.

" _The south and the west are equally deserted of anything unusual._ " Starfire added.

"Keep your eyes and ears peeled." Robin ordered, "Last time, Dymer only used Grey Ghost Bomb Cars because they were the easiest to get his hands on. This time, he could use cars, planes helicopters or who knows what."

Beast Boy shifted into a bat and headed off to do a patrol around the building, leaving Robin alone with his thoughts. He was going over the actions of Ted Dymer and was puzzled. Although his serial bombing and obsession with toys had earned him a spot in Arkham Asylum, all of the psychologists reports Robin had read in between the various fights today hadn't mentioned anything about a desire for revenge, let alone to the point of murder and kidnapping.

The Boy Wonder frowned. That was another thing. Simon Trent had been living with his grandniece ever since her parents had passed away and she had just…vanished into thin air. The report from the neighbours suggested a fight of some sort had taken place, but the GCPD report he had 'found' had stated that there was nothing unusual about the house, aside from it being deserted. No signs of forced entry, no signs of a struggle, nothing.

It set off his well-trained paranoia.

The sound of small motorised engines jerked him from his thoughts. He looked around and saw a small convoy of cars zooming towards the bank. They were saloon cars with a small camera attached to the roofs.

"Titans!" Robin pulled out his communicator, "I have ten presumed bomb-cars heading my way! Get ready!"

Drawing a birdarang, he hurled it at the lead car, cutting the front half off easily. The cars scattered even as Robin drew another birdarang.

(BOOM!)

The car blew up, sending fragments and pieces of concrete flying left and right. Robin dodged them agilely, muttering a curse under his breath.

"They detonate if you disable them!" he warned his team.

" _We know._ " Raven bit back with a bit of strain in her voice, " _I'm under attack by what look like autogyros._ "

" _I've got tanks over here._ " Cyborg put in, the sound of his Sonic Cannon firing in the background, " _They actually fire armour piercing shells!_ "

" _I have several biplanes pursuing me._ " Starfire added.

" _Dude, these toys are after us, not the bank!_ " Beast Boy puffed, " _What gives?!_ "

"There must be another group headed for the bank while we're distracted by these ones." Robin said snarled, "Raven, Star, any sign of anything?"

" _Kinda busy here Robin._ " Raven said dryly, " _Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!_ "

" _I see nothing, Robin._ " Starfire reported, the sound of her starbolts humming in the background.

Robin scowled as he leapt into the air and drew a double-handful of birdarangs, throwing them at the cars, striking each with unerring accuracy and slicing them in two.

Landing well clear of the explosions, Robin ignored them, drew his grapnelling hook and fired it straight up until it latched onto the side of the building. He hit the retract button to make it pull him up rapidly, giving him a higher vantage to spot his prey.

"There you are." he muttered as he spotted the lone remote controlled car speeding towards the bank. Dislodging his grapnel, he retracted it and launched himself towards the car, throwing another birdarang at the car.

With ease, the car dodged it and sped on. Robin was about to throw another one, when a beam of white and blue light obliterated the car. As he landed, the Boy Wonder looked and saw a grinning Cyborg with his right arm transformed into the Sonic Cannon.

"Booyah!" the biomechanical teen said, "Y'know Rob, you should really look into upgrading your gear. Something that isn't a birdarang woulda been useful for this kinda thing."

"Not my style." Robin retorted, "Any luck tracing those signals?"

"Yup; it came from the docks." Cyborg replied as he reverted his arm back to normal, "Wish we'd thought of this when Slade was using his ninja robots."

"Robin shook his head. "Those things use their own onboard A.I. for tactical decisions. Besides, knowing Slade, he has a bunch of routers set up all over the city to make tracking his command signal pointless. For now, let's focus on the Mad Bomber. Slade can take a backseat until then."

"Speaking of, looks like BB and the others put the Bomber's toys away for him." Cyborg remarked as he looked at the locator signals the other Titans were giving out on his built-in tracker, "They're heading this way now."

"Good. Once they arrive, we'll take the T-Car and pay a visit to Mr Dymer." Robin said darkly as he pounded his fist into his palm for emphasis.

"Rob, you're being almost as intense about this guy as you are about Slade." Cyborg remarked.

"Villains from the big cities -Gotham, Metropolis, Star City- make the ones we deal with on a daily basis look tame by comparison." Robin replied grimly, "Even Dymer, a minor villain, is more dangerous and ruthless than any we've faced before, aside from Brother Blood, Slade and the Brotherhood of Evil."

"Don't forget Trigon." Cyborg pointed, "That dude used our tower as a seat!"

"True." Robin acknowledged, "Regardless, I am going to make sure that Dymer can't hurt you all. I won't give him the chance."

 **TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

 _Later_

 _Abandoned Warehouse, Docks, Jump City_

"OK, something ain't right about this place." Cyborg said as he tapped away at his controls.

The Titans were outside a warehouse, the eventual destination that Cyborg's instruments had narrowed the signal that had controlled the remote controlled bombs on their attack on the bank.

"What's up?" Robin asked.

"The security system - a very _advanced_ security system that this warehouse has no business having, might I add- has already been compromised." the cybernetic teen replied, "Anyone could walk in there without setting off a single alarm right now."

"Any signs of who did it?" Raven asked.

"Nope." Cyborg replied, "Me'n'Rob could do a better hack, but this one is better than average. No Joe off the street did it."

"Looks like we have a party crasher." Robin said in surprise. The Teen Titan were the only hero team in Jump City…the only heroes point blank. This was odd…

"Move in!" he ordered.

The doors were unlocked and were easily opened. The interior of the warehouse was full of smashed crates, broken machinery and assorted detritus, all covered by a thin layer of dust. In the centre of the large room, a trapdoor laid open beckoned to them.

Beast Boy shifted into a bloodhound, sniffed around and then shifted back to human to report, "Two people have been here recently. A man and a woman. The male scent is probably Dymer's, but the woman came through here no more than five minutes ago, and she is mad. Madder than I've ever seen Raven."

This was a cause for concern.

"Move." Robin ordered.

Cyborg took the lead, his Sonic Cannon deployed and ready to use. The corridors of the underground base were very cramped for the cybernetic teen, constantly scraping on his metal body.

"Man, this bites." he complained as he dinged his head off the ceiling again, "Talk about bargain-basement building."

"How did Dymer build all this?" Robin wondered aloud, "All of his assets were seized when he got arrested."

"He stole it?" Raven deadpanned, "He is a criminal, after all."

"No." Robin shook his head, "All of this would have taken longer than two months to set up. The base, the army of toys, the explosives…none of this would have been easy to smuggle in under our noses. Dymer isn't a smuggler; he wouldn't have a clue how to do this. Someone recruited him to do this, probably engineered the breakout from Arkham to get him."

"Slade?" Raven asked darkly. She still nursed a grudge against the masked man for helping her father, Trigon, to coerce her into almost destroying the world…and her friends.

"Could be." Cyborg agreed, "Brother Blood's up there too. Just about the only one of our big enemies off the table is the Brotherhood of Evil. All of the high-ranking leadership, including The Brain, is still on ice."

"Where he's staying put." Beast Boy growled. He hated the Brain, ever since he had been a member of the Doom Patrol.

A loud scream came from ahead.

"HELP! HELP ME, PLEASE!"

"Titans, go!" Robin ordered.

The five superteens raced to the end of the passage and slammed the doors open into a vast room filled with computer consoles and toys…all smashed to pieces.

At the far end of the room, Ted Dymer, the Mad Bomber was cowering against the wall. He was dressed in a white lab coat, jeans and a t-shirt and he was wide-eyed in terror.

Looming before him was a grey-clad figure in a wide-brimmed fedora hat and a long cape. Robin's eyes widened in shock as he recognised the figure.

"Impossible…!" he breathed.

"Wh-Who are you?!" Dymer screamed in fear.

"I…am who you think I am." the figure responded through a voice scrambler.

"Impossible…it's impossible!" the Mad Bomber shrieked, "Simon Trent is dead! DEAD!"

"Simon Trent is dead…but lo and behold…the Grey Ghost lives!" the figure pointed a gloved finger at the cowering man, "You really should have known better...you cannot kill a ghost! I am here to put an end to you, Ted Dymer…permanently!"

 **TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

 **Next Chapter: The Grey Ghost vs. The Teen Titans**

 **TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**


	2. Chapter 2

"Robin!" - Regular Speech

' _Starfire_ _…_ ' - Thoughts

" _Report!_ " - Radio talk

 **Chapter 2: The Grey Ghost vs. The Teen Titans**

 _The Mad Bomber's Secret Base, Docks, Jump City_

Robin glared at the figure claiming to be the Grey Ghost. His gaze ran all over the cloaked figure's form and concluded that not only was this not Simon Trent, the figure was female.

"Hold it!" he ordered the figure.

The head of the Grey Ghost turned slightly, showing a completely masked face. "Ah, the Teen Titans…lead by Robin. Fly away, little robin. This isn't your concern."

"Help me!" Dymer screamed, "She's going to kill me!"

"Grow a pair, Mad Bomber." the Grey Ghost said in disgust, "At least die with some dignity."

The Grey Ghost pulled out a pair of odd-looking guns and levelled them at Ted Dymer's head.

Quickly, Starfire unleashed an optic blast from her eyes, forcing the caped figure to dodge out of the way. Dymer scrabbled away, a wet stain spreading across his trousers.

"You…will regret doing that." the Grey Ghost said angrily.

"Titans, move! Stop the Grey Ghost!" Robin ordered (and he couldn't _believe_ he had just had to say that).

Before the Grey Ghost or the Titans could make a move, a hysterical laugh came from Dymer. He had pulled a secret tunnel open and ducked into it.

"See you later, losers!" he called as the wall slammed shut.

"NO!" the Grey Ghost howled in anger, "I will get you Dymer…once I spank some brats!"

The twin pistols in the hands of the Grey Ghost barked three times, slamming into Robin, much to Starfire's horror.

"Robin!" she cried in worry. The Boy Wonder grunted and staggered back, but didn't fall.

"Rubber…bullets?" he said in surprise.

The other caped figure didn't reply, but flicked a switch one way on the left gun and another the other way on the right gun.

Starfire, eyes glowing green, flew at the Grey Ghost with the intent to avenge the harm done to her paramour. The grey-clad figure pointed the left pistol at the Tamaranean and fired three times.

The alien princess dodged the first, but was struck on the arm by the other two. She got electrocuted by the rounds and dropped to the ground for a moment before standing back up, but wincing in pain.

"Hmm…Tamaranean physiology seems resilient to regular-strength taser rounds." the Ghost remarked analytically before pointing her right weapon at Cyborg and firing at him.

Raven got in front of her teammate and swiping across the area that the bullets would pass through, creating a shield that stopped the bullets. Except they weren't actually bullets, they were pellets of some kind.

"Last chance to back off." the Grey Ghost said as she holstered her weapons behind her and took a martial arts stance, "I am not going to hold back considering you made me lose my prey."

"Who are you and why are you after the Mad Bomber?" Robin demanded.

"I am the Grey Ghost and I seek to avenge the murder of Simon Trent, my predecessor." the masked woman stated, "Nothing more, nothing less."

With that, the Grey Ghost rushed Robin, who pulled out his staff. He lashed out with it, but the charging figure agilely leapt over it and pointed one finger at the face of the Boy Wonder. Gas erupted from the extended finger and engulfed his head, making him stagger back, coughing. Then, the room seemed to swirl and fade out.

As Robin collapsed, Raven moved into action.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she chanted, wrapping her black power around a large amount of the nearby debris and sending it hurtling at the Grey Ghost, who lashed out with her cape of all things, smashing the debris out of the air and not so much as scratching the cape.

Cyborg loomed behind the Grey Ghost and grabbed her, pinning her arms to her side. "Gotcha!"

"Or so you think." the masked woman said…before becoming insubstantial and phasing through his arms. Cyborg cried out in pain as both of his arms malfunctioned, sparks flying and numerous errors being reported, leaving him open to a kick to the chest by a rematerialised Grey Ghost, sending the half-mechanical teen crashing to the ground.

Beast Boy shifted into a silverback gorilla and charged her with a roar, only to be floored by a set of bolas fired from her other gauntlet that wrapped around his legs and made him smash onto the ground with a grunt. He immediately shifted into a python and slithered out of the bindings, only to be wrapped up by a line shot from Grey Ghost's _other_ gauntlet and electrocuted.

Beast Boy fainted and reverted to his human form, the taser line snapping off as he did so.

"How dare you hurt my friends?!" Starfire bellowed as she attacked the Grey Ghost. Koriand'r of Tamaran was an expert in several martial arts of her homeworld and was wicked fast to go along with it, but her opponent on this case didn't particularly care about matching her in close combat. She dodged Starfire's first punch before grabbing the offending arm and sending a strong electric shock into her foe, rendering her insensate and then throwing her into Raven, who caught her friend awkwardly.

"Interfere again and I will not play nice." the Grey Ghost informed her before running out through the entrance to the tunnel leading out of the place.

"Oh boy." Raven sighed as she looked over her friends, "This is gonna be a pain."

 **TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

 _Later_

 _Main Lounge, Titan's Tower_

"We **so** got our butts kicked." Beast Boy grumbled. The changeling was eating some tofu waffles to comfort himself.

"That chick had more fancy gadgets than you do, Rob." Cyborg remarked.

"Yeah…" Robin said slowly, "It was all prepared very well. The gloves have taser lines, knockout gas sprays, a mini-bolas launcher and shock pads built into them. Those pistols had shot selectors allowing her to switch from rubber bullets to taser rounds to that last kind she used."

"Ceramic beads." Cyborg supplied, "A very _dense_ type of ceramic designed to pierce through metal. I'd say she loaded these specifically to eliminate me, but what ever that weird ghosting thing that she did fried my arms just as well as these boys coulda done."

"Your arms are operable once again?" Starfire asked in concern.

"Yeah, Rob and Raven got my backups connected and everything." the cybernetic teen said, gesturing with his replacement appendages, indistinguishable from the originals, "My original pair'll need a lot of repairs to get them even working again. Every circuit was slagged to liquid silicon by whatever she did."

"The costume could be made in a month's time, but the rest of it?" Robin shook his head, "I'd say that whoever the Grey Ghost is, they were intending to come out as a hero or villain anyway and had prepared all of the equipment beforehand. The murder of Simon Trent merely expedited things."

"I'd agree." Cyborg nodded, "But man, she tore us up. What was that gas she used on you, Rob?"

"A derivative of The Scarecrow's Fear Gas, greatly toned down and with a large knockout component added to it." Robin replied, "Not a very pleasant combination. If it wasn't for Raven's healing abilities, I'd still have a huge headache and feel nauseous."

"Question is, who is this chick…she is a girl, right?" Cyborg asked.

"Definitely." Robin replied, "I don't know who she is…but I might have an idea on how to find out."

The leader of the Titans stood up and started walking towards the main door.

"Robin?" Starfire called out.

"I'll be back soon." the teen replied before exiting the room, the door hissing shut behind him.

 _Robin's Room_

Robin sighed as he entered his room and enacted several security protocols that would not only prevent him from being heard outside the room, but also beefed his network security by a considerable margin.

He had promised himself that he would never use this particular connection, despite the fact he had had it constructed in secret. Not even Raven or Cyborg knew about it to the best of his knowledge.

The masked teen approached the wall of leads to do with Slade and pressed several of the red marker pins in a specific order. A screen, keyboard and seat appeared from a nearby wall and floor.

Sitting down, Robin typed away for a moment before the screen went black. Them a pair of familiar faces appeared on it, a vast cave appearing in the background.

" _Dick._ " Batman said shortly.

"Bruce." Robin replied briskly, "Barbra."

" _What's up?_ " Batgirl asked, " _You don't write, you don't call…now you use a secret link to vidcall us._ "

"The Mad Bomber." Robin stated flatly, "Ted Dymer is in my city."

Batman's cowled face became more menacing. " _Did you capture him?_ " he asked.

"No." Robin replied, "My team and I were the second people to discover him. The one who got there before us was…the Grey Ghost. Dymer escaped in the confusion."

" _Impossible._ " Batman stated flatly, " _Simon Trent is_ dead _._ _I saw his body myself._ "

"This new Grey Ghost is female." the former apprentice replied, "Not to mention tooled up with gear…a few designs I recognise from WayneTech. I suspect that the true identity of the Grey Ghost…is Simon Trent's grandniece."

" _That would make sense._ " Batgirl nodded, " _Batman and I went over Simon Trent's house with a fine toothed comb. No sign of forced entry or a struggle. She just…vanished._ "

"I think she was planning on becoming a hero before all this happened." Robin offered, "The amount of gear she possessed and the quality of her costume aren't the kind of thing you throw together in less than a month's time. Thing is, now she's walking down a dark path…the same one you stopped me from going down after my parents were killed."

" _She tried to kill Dymer, didn't she?_ " Batman guessed.

"If Starfire hadn't stopped her, Dymer would be dead." Robin stated flatly, "As it is, she trounced us. She got me with a mix similar to the Scarecrow's Fear Gas, Beast Boy with bolas and a taser line and some kind of phase-shift generator to become insubstantial to escape Cyborg, which fried his arms."

" _That last one is_ definitely _WayneTech._ " the Dark Knight scowled, " _It's called the Ghost-Field Generator. It was stolen from a lab…the same one that Trent's grandniece was working at, now I come to think about it._ "

"But she couldn't be more than…" Robin muttered.

" _She's eighteen._ " Batgirl informed him.

"Can you send me any information about her?" Robin asked, "The GCPD reports were very light on details."

" _Unfortunately, there are no details to give that were on paper or databases._ " Batman replied sourly, " _When she vanished, a virus spread throughout every database that possessed any mention of her and corrupted the data irrecoverably. Fraudulent orders were sent to have any paper backups destroyed as well. People who knew her cannot recall anything about her. She ghosted herself with all the skill of a trained government agent. Even the Bat Computer was affected. Bruce Wayne is the only person not affected by whatever erased everyone else's memories._ "

"What can you tell me about her?" Robin asked.

" _Simone Trent was named after her granduncle._ " Batman stated, " _She has a natural flair for mechanics, but her real genius is troubleshooting other people's work and fixing it. She has the uncanny knack to see why something isn't working and what is needed to remedy the problem. I'd call her a technopath, but it applies to chemistry, physics and a whole host of other fields as well. She idolised her granduncle and the one time I met her after Simon was killed, she was full of rage and grief._ "

"So the timeline of events is that the Mad Bomber is broken out of Arkham Asylum, he kills Trent, she steals the Ghost-Field Generator and adds it to the other gadgets that she gathered, ghosts herself and then starts tracking town Dymer." Robin recited, "Something I need to know here; who organised the breakout at Arkham?"

" _Unknown. Possibly Black Mask or Two-Face._ " The Dark Knight replied, " _Why?_ "

"The base and equipment that Dymer had was all brand new, at least it was before the Grey Ghost smashed it." Robin answered, "Cyborg tracked down some serial numbers leading to hijacked and stolen goods from two months ago… _before_ Dymer was broken out of Arkham."

" _So whoever organised the breakout set Dymer up in Jump City._ " Batman concluded, " _Why Dymer though? The villains released were mostly small-names. Lockup, Mad Bomber, the Clock King, Ratcatcher…the only reasonably big name was Firefly, and he left Gotham as soon as he could on a contract._ "

"Whoever organised this probably didn't want you to go to interfere." Robin theorised, "So he couldn't or wouldn't go for Killer Croc or any of the heavy hitters or big names in Arkham without rousing your suspicions. Have any of the escapees done anything since the breakout?"

" _No._ " Batgirl replied with a frown, " _Not a peep out of them. We didn't notice until now because Black Mask and the Penguin have been fighting a turf war recently._ "

" _There is a chance that whoever organised the breakout also hired some or all of the villains who escaped from Arkham._ " Batman stated, " _I am unsure who it is, but I will find out who and why in short order._ "

Robin nodded. "I'm going to let my team know most of what you told me, other than the fact I got the information from you. We'll track down Dymer and send him to Gotham. What should be done about Simone Trent?"

" _At the moment, she has not committed any crime aside from being a vigilante._ " Batman's mouth quirked slightly at that before returning to its usual imperturbable façade, " _Still, she has declared her intent to kill Ted Dymer. Stop her from succeeding. If she does succeed…I'll be there to take care of her. Personally._ "

The Boy Wonder felt a chill go down his spine at that. The Grey Ghost was good…but not good enough to stand up to Batman.

"I'll make sure it doesn't become necessary." Robin stated coolly, "Keep me informed about the investigation."

He reached for the switch to disconnect the connection when Bruce spoke up.

" _Dick…you don't have to stay as Robin._ " he said softly, " _After what happened…_ "

"I _want_ to be Robin." Dick Grayson growled back, "It's a part of who I am, Bruce. You don't get to decide what I do and do not do, not anymore."

He pushed the button and disconnected, standing up as the screen, keyboard and seat slid smoothly back to where they had been hidden beforehand.

"This case is going to get personal." he muttered before leaving his room to get the rest of the Titans up to date.

 **TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

 _Later_

 _Unknown Location_

The room was dark, except for in the middle, where a table stood with five seats stood around it, all filled.

"You, Ted Dymer, are pathetic." a man wearing a neat brown suit and spectacles with clock hands on the lenses stated. He sipped a cup of tea and then carefully replaced in on its saucer before continuing, "You were caught on your first caper in this little town in a most timely fashion by our former nemesis' former apprentice and his gaggle of goons."

"Even I wouldn't let that happen to me." chuckled a man sitting opposite the first. He wore a green trench coat, yellow gloves, yellow thigh-high boots and a maroon gas mask.

"It wasn't just Robin, Clock King." Dymer growled, "And you shut it, Ratcatcher! It was the goddamned Grey Ghost!"

"Who now?" asked a large man wearing a blue and black costume with white shoulder pads and gloves.

"That was the name of the part played by Simon Trent the actor, Lockup" Clock King replied snootily, "It is impossible for the Grey Ghost to be here because our benefactor eliminated him for our colleague here."

"Yeah? Well either he failed or someone new is wearing the suit!" Dymer bit back, "Whoever it is smashed my equipment and toys with goddamn guns! If the Titans hadn't shown up, I'd be dead!"

"Quit yer yammering, you weed!" a man dressed in a grey bodysuit with a bee-like mask snarled, "If ya had grown a pair and actually learned how to fight, you might have been able to actually be of use here!"

"I'm a bomber, not a frontline fighter, Firefly!" Dymer pointed out with a scowl.

"I daresay Ratcatcher could protest that he isn't a frontline fighter as well, but he at least knows how to do a few self defence moves." Clock King sniffed, "Our sponsor is _not_ going to be pleased that you were sent scurrying with your tail between your legs."

" _I'm not._ " a voice growled over speakers as a screen activated, showing a basic silhouette of a man with no details.

"Ah, sir. I take it you heard of this little…mishap." Clock King said uncomfortably.

" _I have indeed._ " the man who had arranged the liberation of the five villains from Arkham Asylum said, " _Mad Bomber, report. What exactly happened today?_ "

Dymer once again recounted his attempt at extorting money from Jump City; the initial successful bombing of the GothCorp Plastics Factory, the failed attempt at bombing the bank, being tracked down by the mysterious Grey Ghost as well as the Teen Titans and of course his narrow escape.

" _Simon Trent is indeed dead._ " the figure said once Dymer finished his tale, " _An old man could not have escaped the bomb I planted. Whoever this is that has assumed the mantle of the Grey Ghost is a fly in the ointment. The Teen Titans are a known factor; this Grey Ghost is not. We should move to eliminate this hindrance as soon as is feasible. I shall arrange for another base to be prepared for you, Mad Bomber. This time, however, there shall be four additional obstacles in case our revenant returns._ "

Lockup grunted and mashed a fist onto the table, shaking it. "Good. I was lookin' to cream me a caped crusader. Robin or this Grey Ghost will do nicely."

"Eliminating a pest quickly is what I do best." Ratcatcher chortled as he drew his gas gun and admired it before holstering it once more.

"I shall ensure it happens in a precise timely manner." Clock King stated.

"I wonder how well a Ghost burns?" Firefly snickered.

"If it'll get that ghoul off my back…OK." Dymer sighed.

" _Excellent._ " purred the figure, " _I shall contact you when I have everything prepared. Be alert. Slade is not a man who likes it when others putter about in his territory, and you are all above the buffoons that infest this city other than Slade._ "

With that, the screen blanked.

"Who IS that guy?" Dymer muttered.

"An excellent question." Clock King mused, "But not one that needs answering for the moment. He effected our release from Arkham and is paying us rather handsomely to work for him. For the moment, we need not concern ourselves with his identity, merely the speed of his wire transfers to our bank accounts."

"Yep." Firefly said as he stood up, "For a merc like me, the bottom line is the most important thing."

' _How did I wind up with these people?_ ' Ted Dymer moaned to himself as he staggered off to bed.

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 **Next Chapter: Ghost Hunt**

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	3. Chapter 3

"Robin!" - Regular Speech

' _Starfire…_ ' - Thoughts

" _Report!_ " - Radio talk

 **Chapter 3: Ghost Hunt**

 _Earlier that Day_

 _Starfire's Room, Titan's Tower_

The princess of the planet Tamaran, Koriand'r, was very happy right now. Why? She was straddling the lap of her boyfriend, Robin, and engaged in what she believed the people of earth referred to as 'making out.'

It was very enjoyable for her and her heart practically melted whenever she got a chance to do this with him. He was a gentleman, making sure never to touch her anywhere she didn't want him to or that he thought she didn't want him to touch.

Tamaraneans had a very relaxed view on propriety and relationships up until a certain point. Marriage was _very_ sacred to her people, but before that the young were actively encouraged to experiment. Starfire had come across a fitting Human expression to express it; eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

Starfire's people were warriors, first and foremost, so living each day as if it were their last was the way they had lived their lives since before they had discovered that they could fly through space. Some cultures in the galaxy found their attitude lackadaisical and foolish, but for a people who drew their powers from their unrestrained emotions, it was something they thought was the right way.

When they separated, panting, the alien princess noticed something in Robin's eyes that gave her pause.

"What troubles you Robin?" she asked softly, "Is it the Grey Ghost?"

"You know me too well." The Boy Wonder sighed, "Yes, she worries me. I was like her once; full of the need for vengeance. My parents were murdered by a lowlife gangster called Tony Zucco. I've _been_ where she is, I've come very close to crossing the line that she is aiming to cross over. I have to stop her, before she makes that mistake."

" _We_ will." Starfire said, emphasising the 'we' as she spoke. Robin had a bad tendency to go lone hero on them, especially if Slade was involved. She had to remind him that he had friends who were with him and would help him, if he let them.

"Yeah. Yeah, we will." Robin nodded with a small smile, "We'd better get going before Beast Boy hunts us down."

 _Present_

 _Lounge, Titan Tower_

"The first of the villains that escaped from Arkham was Temple Fugate, a.k.a. the Clock King." Robin said and pointed at the main screen, which showed a man wearing a brown suit, complete with bowler hat, and wearing spectacles with clock hands on the lenses.

"And this guy duked it out with Batman?" Cyborg asked sceptically.

Robin nodded. "He might not look like much, but he is a troubling enemy. He became a villain in order to take revenge on then-Mayor of Gotham Hamilton Hill for his company going bust. He has an instinctive sense of time. He always knows _exactly_ what the time and date is and by watching footage of someone's combat style, he can time them exactly and even predict them. He uses a pocket watch as a ranged weapon and a sword shaped like a clock hand for close range offence and defence."

"If that's all he can do, Grey Ghost will go through him like a scythe through wheat." Raven said dourly.

"Next we have Lyle Bolton, a.k.a. Lock-Up." The screen changed to a man wearing a balaclava, a slate-grey suit and large shoulder pads connected by a small chain.

"Dude looks intense." Beast Boy gulped.

"He is." Robin agreed, "Bolton was a guard at Arkham Asylum, until he was dismissed for brutality towards the inmates. He swore revenge, kidnapping and imprisoning the board who dismissed him before Batman brought him down. Like Clock King, he has no powers, but he is strong and tends to fight with a pair of steel chains."

The screen changed to show a man wearing a grey suite with wings and a flamethrower in one hand.

"This is Garfield Lynns, a.k.a. Firefly." The raven-haired teen said seriously, "A mercenary and pyromaniac. He had an accident at the start of his career as a criminal that covered his body with burns. A recent decision to class his obsession with fire as insanity had him transferred to Arkham from Blackgate Penitentiary. Unlike the other two, this one man is a serious threat. His suit is fire retardant and heat insulated to protect him from his own flames and he wields numerous flame-based and incendiary weaponry. Flamethrowers, napalm grenades and a flame sword. He also has a jetpack."

"Star can handle him." Cyborg nodded.

"I will endeavour to do so." The Tamaranean Princess nodded.

"Rounding out the group, we have Otis Flannegan, a.k.a. the Ratcatcher." Robin continued, the screen changing to display a man wearing an orange gasmask, green overall, orange gloves and a gas gun, "He has the ability to command rats to do anything he wants. He once threatened Gotham with enough of them to bury the city, a rat plague. In person, he uses cyanide gas loaded into that gun of his, as well as some hand-to-hand and staff work."

"Rob, what's with these guys?" Cyborg asked, "Talk about scrapping the bottom of the barrel."

"They might not be for us, but imagine Firefly bombing buildings in Jump City alongside the Mad Bomber, while Ratcatcher sends his minions to attack the public while Lock Up and Clock King make trouble elsewhere?" Robin countered, "I mean it when I say that the big cities have far more ruthless and tough criminals. I'm just glad that these guys are all second stringers. If Killer Croc or Mister Freeze had been chosen instead, I'd ask the Batman to help. We wouldn't be able to fight them and come away without serious injuries."

"Dude!" Beast Boy protested.

"No BB; I've heard of Killer Croc." Cyborg backed Robin up, "The guy is a mass of muscle, scales and teeth. He's supposedly bigger than your Man-Beast form. He's supposedly almost feral and even the Batman has a hard time taking him down. Rob's right; we have to be careful with these guys."

"What's more concerning is that someone is definitely behind the breakout at Arkham, and it isn't one of the Gotham big name criminals." Raven put in. The half-demon tapped a few keys on the terminal she was seated in front of and a list appeared on the screen. Black Mask, Penguin, Two-Face, Falcone, Scarecrow…

"This is a list of every major criminal gang in Gotham City." Raven continued, "And according to the GCPD database I accessed, every single one of them was engaged elsewhere on the night of the breakout. Whoever is behind it isn't a Gothamite."

"What about the Metropolis and Star City villains?" Robin asked intently.

"Lex Luthor _could_ be behind it, but only because he has almost as much money as Bruce Wayne." The half-demon replied, "The rest…no. They are either second-stringers like the ones from Arkham or Superman or Green Arrow were fighting them or they were locked up. All accounted for."

"Great, a newbie mastermind." Cyborg grumbled, "What about Slade or Brother Blood?"

Raven scowled. "It is impossible to track Slade, so he could be behind it. He's done similar things before, with the HIVE Academy and the Thunder and Lightning Brothers. As for Brother Blood, he's dropped off the map recently as well. He's still licking his wounds from the beating you gave him in Steel City, Cyborg."

"Good." The cybernetic teen grunted, "That guy is _way_ too obsessed with me."

"So it's either a new criminal on the block or an old one being cautious." Robin summed things up, "And now we come to the main problem…Simone Trent, a.k.a. The Grey Ghost."

"So the girl wasn't kidnapped; she ran to track her grandfather's killer." Raven said with a frown, "What do we know about her?"

"Not very much." Robin admitted in frustration, "She ghosted herself, pardon the pun, with the skill of a secret agent. No computer records remain, no hardcopy records either. And even everyone she knew growing up has had their memory erased with a nanoserum known as Lethe Type-2. It allows the person who injected it to designate someone in the memories of the target and erase them completely. Only Bruce Wayne wasn't affected by it, for some reason."

"Why would she go so far?" Starfire asked sadly. To as far as that…

"Because she doesn't intend to survive." Raven said stonily, "Or, if she does, she doesn't expect to return to her old life afterwards. She had given herself wholly to the pursuit of revenge, casting off everything she once was to become the Grey Ghost."

"That matches my analysis as well." Robin agreed, "Simone is the daughter of Bradford and Lucy Trent, both parents died a few years ago in Star City thanks to a plot by Brick. She moved to Gotham to live with Simon Trent shortly after the funeral. She is a genius at troubleshooting, according to Bruce Wayne. She can fix errors in devices and mixtures in all areas of science. Not so good and genuine innovation, but she has come up with a few novel concepts in her time with WayneTech."

"She's what? Eighteen? And she has a job in _R &D_ at _WayneTech_?" Cyborg asked incredulously.

"Apparently, she impressed Wayne when he visited her school." The Boy Wonder informed him, "Anyway, moving on to her equipment…she's based some of it on villain tech, such as the knockout gas she used on me, but the rest of it seems to be the logical extension of the original Grey Ghost's equipment, updated and improved upon.

"An example being the pistols. In the TV show, the Grey Ghost wielded a pair of basic pistols that he rarely used against flesh and blood foes. Just about the only special thing about them was the fact that there were several magazines of special ammunition, ranging from armour-piercing to dum-dum, which could be loaded into them. Simone has used WayneTech technology to miniaturise several types of ammo and added a shot selector, so she can switch ammunition on the fly, as she did the last time we met."

"She ripped off someone in Gotham and the Batman _didn't_ curb-stomp her?" Beast Boy asked in shock.

"She was a missing person and had top-level access to WayneTech." Robin shrugged, "She's obviously been planning this for a while, so she must have copied tech at work then moved it to a private lab somewhere and built them. Except for the last piece she took…the one that shorted out your arms, Cyborg."

The screen changed to show a belt-like contraption that was bulky and looked heavy. The screen then split to show a device the size of a modern cell phone.

"The item on the left is the WayneTech Type-0 Prototype Ghost Field Generator, while the item on the right is the WayneTech Type-1 Second Prototype Ghost Field Generator." Robin informed his team, "The Type-0 was constructed by a team at WayneTech, but they were forced to abandon it due to instability in the field and possible harmful side effects. Then Simone Trent was brought in to have a look at it, the result being the Type-1. It still has harmful side effects, but only if used for hours consecutively."

"She smuggled it out by pretending it was her phone, didn't she?" Cyborg deadpanned.

"Got it in one." The Boy Wonder looked amused, "The guards at WayneTech have been sent on a remedial security course for that slip. Anyway, as you saw, it allows the wearer to turn intangible, with the side effect of shorting out any electronics the user passes through and, as we saw, reducing any silicone with an active electrical current running through it into liquid."

"Yep. I'm lucky she went forward instead of backwards, otherwise I'd be in a heap of trouble." Cyborg grumbled, "I'm going to keep her at range from here on out and blast her with my Sonic Cannon."

"I've gone over some frequencies that you can attune your cannon to that might break her out of intangibility." Robin said and passed a sheaf of paper to Cyborg, who glanced over it quickly.

"Thanks Rob."

"In order to find the Grey Ghost, we first have to find the Mad Bomber." Robin said firmly, "Chances are that she found him the same way we did, except she got there quickly as she didn't have to protect anything or fight off the Bomber's toy army. Raven, start searching for unusual activity in abandoned and derelict sections of the city. Chances are that's where we need to look."

"Jump City doesn't exactly have a large derelict area." Raven pointed out, "It's only twenty-five years old or so. The docks or the industrial district would be a better bet, but I'll look anyway."

"Cyborg, can you slap together a signal jammer so we can stop the Mad Bomber's toys in their tracks?" the leader of the Titans continued, "We'll need it if we want to reach the Bomber before the Ghost."

"Easy as pie." Cyborg nodded.

"Beast Boy, Raven, go and scout out the Bomber's old lair for anything that might tell us who his paymaster is."

"…can I gag beast Boy?" Raven asked in a monotone, although one side of her mouth twitched as she fought down a smile at her joke.

"No." Robin replied, fighting down one of his own.

"You guys suck." The changeling sulked.

"Starfire and I will be on patrol in the city itself to deal with any of the usual crowd that'll eventually show themselves." Robin finished. Jump City had some of the most determined villains around, if not the most skilled. It was rare that a day went by that one supervillain or another wasn't causing trouble.

"Let's get to it then." Robin said and headed off to the garage to grab the R-Cycle, with Starfire floating after him. Raven wrapped herself and Beast Boy in darkness, vanishing and Cyborg headed off to his workshop to begin creating the jammer device.

 _Later_

 _Unknown Location_

"What is the progress with those villains?" a dapper man asked from behind his desk. The room he was in was filled with opulent statues, paintings and carvings, while the desk he sat behind was an antique from the Napoleonic Wars. The man himself was good looking in a narcissistic fashion and had neatly trimmed blond hair and ice blue eyes.

"There is an unexpected fly in the ointment, sir." A butler replied obsequiously, "Apparently, one of them, the Mad Bomber, is being pursued by a female vigilante calling herself 'the Grey Ghost' and was almost killed by her. You may recall that we arranged the death of the original Grey Ghost to persuade the Mad Bomber to join with you."

"Tch. I trust that you had them arrange to deal with the nuisance?" the first man sneered.

"Yes, Mister Samuels." The butler replied with an eager nod of his head, "It will mean activating one of the bases prematurely, but we have enough set aside to make it irrelevant in the greater scheme of things."

The man called Samuels nodded judiciously. "An acceptable loss…IF this Ghost character is removed. If necessary, be prepared to bring in the second wave early should the Gothamites fail."

"Of course sir." The butler said, "Is there anything further?"

Samuels frowned. "Ensure that the criminals and mercenaries who conducted the Arkham operation are not in a position to disclose who paid them to do so. Make it look like an accident if possible."

"As you wish Mister Samuels." The butler bowed and took his leave, shutting the door to the room behind him.

"Humph…the Grey Ghost indeed." Obadiah Samuels snorted, "If she interferes in my plan…she will pay."

Idly, he examined a ring he had on his hand. A shining ring with a lantern-like symbol on the face of it.

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 **Next Chapter: Five vs. One**

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